Post by fifthhorseman on Oct 21, 2020 23:25:58 GMT -5
CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING FROM FLORIDA
EPISODE 31
EPISODE 31
A 60-second video montage showcasing some of the greatest stars that competed in the classic CWF, as well as FCW and NXT, opens the telecast, ending with a still shot of an airborne Dusty Rhodes executing a sunset flip on Jack Brisco.
Lance Russell: “And welcome to Championship Wrestling from Florida! I'm Lance Russell, and I'm joined on commentary tonight by the one and only Terry Funk. In just a couple of moments, we're going to crown the first CWF Television champion, in a Pure Rules showdown between two very skilled competitors, Barry Windham and Nick Nemeth.”
Funk: “They certainly are; I gotta admit, Nemeth surprised me with how good he was, and I've wrestled Barry lots of times over the years. Whoever wins it will absolutely deserve it.”
Before the hardcore icon could say anything else, CWF President Bobby Heenan came out with the TV title belt in one hand and a microphone in the other. “Hello, humanoids – I have a few things to say before we start the show, so just settle down, alright? First off, the MUW board of directors has suggested that I officially apologize to the president of WCW about the East-West Connection's recent actions. So here you go... I'm sorry that you think WCW is a big-league territory, and I'm very sorry that my guys, real men like Rick Rude and Barry Windham, showed your so-called wrestlers what wrestling really is when you dared show your face in Florida! And if you had any amount of sense in your thick head, you'll never come back again!”
Heenan received a rare, decently-sized round of applause from the audience and continued. “Now, onto CWF business. After our current CWF Florida Tag-Team champions made an open challenge to the locker room, I had a dozen teams make their case to get that shot. However, they gotta earn it. Now we just did a gauntlet match a while ago to determine the Southern Tag-Team champs, so we're not going that route again so soon. Nope. Instead, I told each team to nominate a captain for me. Tonight, six of those captains are going to face off – in a ladder match! And next week, the other six captains will fight in a taped fist scramble match! The winners of each will then square off in a tag-team match for that tag-team title shot... and that will happen at the Survivor Series!”
The crowd murmured, and the CWF owner smirked. “That's right – I acquired the rights to the Survivor Series! All this talk of tag-teams made me feel a bit nostalgic, so in five weeks, you're gonna see team warfare like you've never seen before.”
“And... let's get this show on the road!”
CWF TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – PURE RULES
NICK NEMETH (w/Eric Bugenhagen, Mike Rotunda, and Dan Spivey) vs. BARRY WINDHAM:
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NICK NEMETH (w/Eric Bugenhagen, Mike Rotunda, and Dan Spivey) vs. BARRY WINDHAM:
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The referee reminded them of the pure rules, and the 10-minute time limit. Both men were confident in their grappling skills, and that they had to avoid that dreaded amateur-based one-count. They shook hands and backed into their corners; Windham alone, Nemeth cheered on by his GCVC cohorts.
The gameplans were easy to deduce: Nemeth used his peerless amateur skills to keep Windham off-balance and frustrated, while the big Texan utilized his height and reach to keep the Kent State heavyweight from shooting on him at will. They were supremely conditioned, and wrestled at a ferocious pace, and as the final few seconds ticked off, Nemeth had Windham in a head-and-arm hold that had the referee constantly checking his shoulders on the mat.
And then the bell rang.
The two got to their feet, unsure of the outcome – mainly because there wasn't one. Heenan got back on the mike and said, “Oh no, no, no... we're not leaving here until someone wins. So, let's do it again... but this time, it's no holds barred!”
The sold-out crowd was very happy with that decision, and the ref summoned them back to the center of the ring to remind of the “new” rules; in reality, they all knew them, but the official smartly gave them a few extra seconds to reset their strategy. The bell rang, and this time, Windham and Nemeth tore into each other like street fighters, and they traded haymakers that they held in reserve when the match first started. On more than one occasion, Spivey had to be held back because the urge to interfere was too much, but to their credit, all they did was cheer a bloodied Nemeth on. The second-generation star from Sweetwater had blood streaming from his nose as well, but they kept going.
Until another ten minutes elapsed, and the bell rang again. Heenan stood up again, and said, “I love it! Back to pure rules!”
No instructions this time, and they went at it again. The fatigue was showing now, and Russell theorized that Windham had a broken nose. Nemeth was lucky; he “only” had a deep gash above his right eye. It was paradoxical as the two battered warriors fought under the pure rules again. The pin attempts came less frequently, and both men were trying to end it with one big shot. After seizing the momentum, Nemeth dropped Windham to a knee, and went for the ZigZag – but Windham bounced off the opposite set of ropes and nailed him with a flying lariat. He went for the pin, locking his arms around Nemeth's neck and legs, but even in a semi-conscious state, his foe continued to fight. The Texan held him down for a full minute before the referee finally made the one-count, and he declared Windham the winner at 29:10.
The two gladiators shook hands again, despite Nemeth's obvious frustration, and the Club left the victor in the ring. After acknowledging the cheers, Windham left as well, and Heenan met him on the stage, and strapped the CWF Television title around his waist. After cutting a short but emotional promo, Windham raised his hand and left to get medical attention.
COMMERCIAL
Another vignette touting the imminent arrival of Paul Orndorff was shown, and when it was done, a cameraman was following Heenan, who was suddenly surrounded by Brian Pillman and Drew McIntyre. Both men wanted a rematch with the CWF Southern Heavyweight champion Muhammad Hassan, and “the Brain” declared that, maybe, they could each earn a shot if they fought next week – as a team, against Hassan's stablemates, the Blond Bombers. The “Loose Cannon” and the powerful Scotsman stared each other down, but agreed that they would do it.
Russell and Funk set the next big match up, and noted that the lengthy TV title contest meant that a couple of matches were being trimmed from tonight's show.
LADDER MATCH
BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. ADRIAN ADONIS vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL vs. KOFI KINGSTON vs. JOEY MATTHEWS vs. RAY STEVENS:
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BRAD ARMSTRONG vs. ADRIAN ADONIS vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL vs. KOFI KINGSTON vs. JOEY MATTHEWS vs. RAY STEVENS:
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A brass ring hung 15 feet above the mat. During the commercial break, the ring crew brought out half a dozen ladders, and they were strategically placed. All six men were eager to punch their ticket to at least the next stage in getting a title shot – all they had to do was get the ring.
Easier said than done. They went nearly 20 minutes, and each man had highlight reel moments. The four aerialists – Gabriel, Matthews, Kingston, and Armstrong – took amazing risks. Stevens and Adonis were fearless bump machines, and they weren't left out of anything. This was typical ladder match chaos, and bodies crashed and burned until there were just two men left in the ring. Kingston and Stevens were battling on opposite sides of the ladder, trading punches, oblivious to anything but the brass ring and each other.
Then all hell broke loose. The WCW tag champs, the Road Warriors, slid out from underneath the ring and discarded the ring crew garb they used to sneak in. As Hawk jumped up on a turnbuckle, Animal randomly chose Stevens as their target, and he walked a couple of rungs up the ladder until he had the Bomber on his shoulders. He came back down, went to the corner, and as Kingston grabbed the brass ring, Hawk took flight and nailed Stevens with a clothesline. As the other four participants slowly regained their bearings, the Legion of Doom calmly left through the crowd, and Kofi victoriously dropped to the canvas.
COMMERCIAL
It was chaos backstage, and Heenan was furious. He flailed his arms in every direction, shouting and screaming at whoever was near him. The camera shot drifted until it settled on Richie Steamboat and Ted DiBiase, Jr., who were trying to figure out how to position themselves higher on the card. They looked disappointed, and defeated, when they were interrupted by two other men. Davey Boy Smith, Jr. and Tyson Kidd extended their hands, and Kidd asked, “Can one of you point me toward the boss's office?”
CHRISTIAN CAGE vs. HADE VANSEN (w/Dexter Lumis):
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Lumis's imposing presence didn't distract Cage at all. Granted, it felt like a handicap match at times, and Vansen got his unique blend of offense in more than the crowd might have expected. However, the savvy WWE veteran dished it out as well as he took it, and he hit Vansen with the Unprettier after only about seven minutes of action. After the match, Lumis darted in and shoulder-blocked Cage through the ropes to the outside, but it ultimately meant nothing. The Canadian strutted up the ramp, turned to the crowd, and made the universal “I want the title” gesture by pointing to his waist.
COMMERCIAL
Heenan was still backstage, and he told a cameraman that, for the first time since returning to television, he would not be calling the main event... even with his close friend Rick Rude defending the Florida Heavyweight championship. He had too much to do making sure the building was secure.
However, another man did walk through the curtain – Timothy Thatcher. He addressed the crowd, saying that if he had wrestled tonight, he would have beat Nemeth, too. “As far as I'm concerned, I'm the uncrowned TV champ around here!”
That set Funk off, who stood up at the table. “Well, see here, fella – I never faced Barry Windham in the tournament, so who's to say that I wouldn't have beat him if I wrestled him tonight?” The former NWA World champion took his headset off and strode over to Thatcher, who balled his fists up. A cameraman got in close, and a trio of CWF officials separated the two just in case – but it was clear that the two men each considered themselves to be the number one contender for Windham's title.
CWF FLORIDA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
LEX LUGER (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink) vs. RICK RUDE (c, w/Percy Pringle III):
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LEX LUGER (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink) vs. RICK RUDE (c, w/Percy Pringle III):
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The crowd wasn't sure who to cheer for; after all, Luger and Rude were two of the most vain, arrogant, muscled-up villains in the state of Florida. However, they eventually decided on the lesser of two evils, Luger – they were fed up with the “Ravishing One's” lengthy championship reign.
Even the managers barked at each other as their men fought. The “Total Package” was especially inspired this night, and he slammed Rude to the mat and ground him down with punishing headlocks and vices whenever he could. But the champion was equally determined, and he used his superior speed and stamina to wear Luger down, similar to Muhammad Ali's “rope-a-dope”.
And it seemed to work. After 15 minutes, Luger was breathing heavily, and Rude made his comeback. The tempo quickened, as he flung Luger into the ropes multiple times, hitting him with backdrops, dropkicks, and clotheslines. Yet Luger wouldn't stay down, and he had a final flurry of offense left. The former WCW World champion pressed Rude over his head, but the Minnesotan escaped over his back, and bulldogged Luger down. He cinched a tight pin, and with his feet on the ropes – just like he did to Bruno Sammartino at their WCW showdown earlier in the month – got the one-two-three. Luger sprang up immediately after the three-count, well aware of what happened, but the ref missed it. He and Humperdink angrily complained to no avail, and Rude limped out of the ring, still the champion.